Home Ed Festival Next Year

[Etainagain]

This is really embarrassing to admit (especially on home ed thread), but I somehow found myself on the Hesfes website and the festival sounded absolutely fantastic, so I booked in for next year straight away. Thing is, I don't home educate and although I've thought about taking my ds out of school (he is 9 and says he's bullied), I really don't think I ever will as I'm just not confident about my ability to teach him. Although the home page of the site says children who go to school are welcome too, I have a slightly uneasy feeling now. I'm wondering whether home ed families will be a bit pissed off having a 'mainstream' family like ours gatecrashing their party? The activities at the festival sound amazing and I really like the alternative feel to it all. I should also add that I'm not one of those people who thinks that all kids should go to school. I think that HE works extremely well for many families, so I'm very open to learning more about it. But please, tell me honestly, as home educators would you be slightly annoyed to find you and your kids mixing with kids who go to school at what should essentially be a gathering for those who HE?

No, I wouldn't be even remotely annoyed!! I would assume that you had some interest in home education and perhaps wanted to learn more about it and explore it as a possibility for your family. So I might bring the subject up occasionally.

At Hesfes you will be most welcome. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you come away from Hesfes thinking that perhaps you could manage to home educate after all. (See, I'm at it already.)

I'd compare it to the way I go along to my local church for the carol service at Christmas, though I am an atheist. Of course they don't mind me coming, as long as I don't sit in the back row grumbling to a gang of my atheist pals about how misguided I think religion is. From their point of view it is great to encourage everyone into the church. We might be non-believers when we arrive, but perhaps our minds will be changed. At the very least we'll emerge knowing a bit more about Christianity and feeling warmer toward their parishioners, and that can only be a good thing for everyone.

Go and have fun! There may even be some mumsnetters from this board who will get together there, and I'm sure they'd love to meet you.

its not a problem. Many families have a mix of HE and school children anyway.

I've been to Hesfes a few times and given workshops. Before I went I thought the only people there would be already home educating but I found this not to be the case. I think it's absolutely fine to go and if the subject comes up at all you can say honestly that you aren't confident about home educating. The link is here for anyone else who is interested www.hesfes.co.uk/

Etainagain - may I suggest you read some things about autonomous learning/unschooling? It may give you the confidence you need to home educate. Kids really don't need teaching. In fact, I'd go so far as to say they rarely learn much of what we are hoping they'll learn through being 'taught'. They learn far more from doing fun stuff with parents who love them and who want to help them do as much fun stuff as possible. How Children Learn at Home by Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison is wonderful for that. Free Range Education edited by Terri Dowty is good as well.

Thanks so much for your responses. I think I misinterpreted the site when it said children who go to school are welcome too. As Magi says, lots of HE families have kids at school as well. I just read it as 'non HE families welcome too'. Having said that, I think Saracen has a point and Hesfes could be the place to give me the confidence to try HE too. Good to hear Fiona that, in your experience, not everybody there is home educating. Thanks also to Sulis for the book recommendations.

I think its lovely that you have an open mind and know you'd be most welcome from what I have heard.
We H.ed and don't go as it usually clashes with festivals dd is involved with.
You know you might catch H.ed though
I wasn't confident about my ability to teach dd at the beginning and then found out there was no need to teach, at all.
From my experience I have found the H.ed families we know mix well with schooled children and form friendships just the same. My dd has friends from both and also does many activities and groups with schooled dc.
Honestly, you'll be fine, only wish we could go.

When you get there, come and find me and Fiona running the workshops on home ed...something that may just give you the bit of confidence you need?